Cheering you up
by jin0uga
Summary: Male!Ruby. Dateless and alone, Ruben Rose is having a horrible time at the beacon dance. Weiss is with someone else, and his necktie is strangling him. Thankfully, Pyrrha appears and sweeps him off his feet. Milk and cereal. Hints of Whiterose. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own RWBY and its characters.

**AN:** Did anybody see the awesomeness that is Neo? Holy crap, she kicked yang's butt. And she looked good while doing it too. I suddenly had the urge to write this fic. The exam stress must be getting to me. I never wrote Pyrrha before so hopefully I get it right. Speed wrote this so didn't have time to double check for mistakes. Apologies. Oh, and I do not support the Neptune x Weiss pairing. I'm a white rose/freezerburn/ etc. shipper. But he's good as a plot device so whatevs.

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><p>Ruben Rose stood stiffly at the punch bowl, fidgeting uncomfortably in his tuxedo. The dance was in full swing now, and he eyed the students in amusement and slight jealousy as they danced to the peppy tune the DJ had begun playing. Although he tried to avoid <em>one<em> particular corner of the large ballroom, Ruben's eyes kept moving back towards the same spot where two figures were currently chatting happily.

Weiss and _Neptune_.

He shook his head lightly. Even pronouncing that name in his mind made his blood boil. God forbid he says it out loud, and his tongue shrivel up and rot.

"Escaping to the punch bowl?"

A voice asked from his right. The red haired boy turned to face Jaune, who was smiling, although albeit strained. The blonde boy shrugged his shoulders a little at the questioning gaze and held out his plastic punch cup.

"To the socially awkward." He said, and Ruben nodded, giving the boy a small smile of his own. The two lonely hunters toasted jokingly and went back to observing the dance floor with a bored gaze. The silence took over for a few moments, before it was broken by a sigh.

"This blows." Ruben complained as he took another long sip from his cup of grape punch. Jaune laughed and turned to where he was staring, spotting blue and white hair in the distance. Jaune winced. Ohhh, that couldn't feel too good for his his friend.

"I hate dances. And this stupid neck trap is strangling me."

"I can't believe you wore it, though. You don't seem like the type."

"I'm _not_. But Weiss is."

Ruben froze and blushed, pink dancing across his cheeks at the accidental confession. Jaune just smiled and bumped shoulders with his best friend.

"Weren't you going to ask her to the dance?" He questioned curiously as he fingered the rough surface of the plastic cup. The liquid inside was lukewarm, but it still tasted good. Jaune looked around to see if Pyrrha was back from the bathroom, and wondered if it was bad form to ditch his friend when he was having a horrible time.

"I wanted to." Ruben grumbled, his fist clenching and unclenching at the memory. He had went to the florist to get a white rose in preparation to ask his partner to the dance (he'd heard that girls liked sappy stuff like that) and came back to their dorm room to find Weiss gushing to Blake about being asked to the dance by _him_.

"But apparently, pretty boy found her first."

"…At least she seems happy, right?"

Jaune said meekly when he heard the malice in Ruben's voice. The red haired hunter went wide eyed for a moment and stared at him, before slouching into a defeated posture. Sighing lowly, he scratched his head in annoyance.

"I guess so." He grudgingly admitted. "I mean, look at him. Who can pull off blue hair?"

The boy went back to sulking into his drink. Jaune felt the atmosphere taking a turn for the worse and spied Pyrrha walking towards them. Inwardly breathing a sigh of relief, he quickly extended his hand and waved comically. This drew several, odd looks from the crowd but he paid them no mind in favor of calling his partner over.

"Heyyyyy! Over hereee!"

Ruben was snapped out of his brooding when the Amazonian huntress gracefully approached them. She looked exceptionally beautiful tonight in her red dress with gold trimmings. It made her look dangerous but it still somehow made her all the more attractive.

Pyrrha smiled at the sight of her two friends. Although Jaune looked nice in his black tux, she had to admit that Ruben looked extremely handsome, his reddish hair slicked back for the occasion and the crimson tux showing off his lithe but muscular figure, clinging to all the right places.

"Hey," She greeted them and turned to face Ruben. "How has your night been, so far?"

"Horrible. Actually, that might be the understatement of the century."

He complained, making Jaune throw him a few pitiful looks. The poor guy really sounded as if he rather be anywhere but here. Well, it was to be expected since the Weiss was hanging off the arm of the new guy, which left him dateless.

"Hey, it can't be that bad." Pyrrha replied cheerily and thanked Jaune when he passed her a plastic cup filled with punch. "After all, you're here with friends. Times like these are hard to come by, don't you think?"

"Well…that _is_ true." Ruben said, but started pouting. "But I'm still not enjoying it. Especially in these man heels."

The members of team JNPR laughed and Jaune patted his back in a show of comfort. "Hang in there buddy." He said, and grinned when he saw Nora waving to him madly. He vaguely heard her yelling something about 'happening' before she started dragging Ren towards the dance floor. The blonde boy realized they were about to start dancing and started to speed walk towards them.

"I'm going to dance! Try to cheer him up, Pyrrha." He called over his shoulder and received a reassuring smile from the huntress. The beat of the music suddenly changed, and he quickly came to a stop beside Nora and Ren, just in time to see a drunk Cardin stumbling around the dance floor…in a dress.

Ruben cracked a weak smile when he heard the dance floor exploding with laughter. He made the mistake of looking in that direction, and caught a glimpse of Weiss and Neptune gearing up to dance.

Pyrrha followed his line of sight and sighed. Ruben jumped and nearly stumbled in surprise when the huntress hooked her arm between his, effectively pulling their shoulders close together. He blushed darkly and squawked.

"W-what are you doing?!" He said shrilly, and coughed in embarrassment when she shot him a smug smile. "Cheering you up." Pyrrha replied matter of factly, taking pride in the fact that she had managed to drag the boy out of his self-induced world of 'misery'. It wouldn't do to have one of her friends to feel left out on such an important night. Everybody needed to let loose, after all.

"I don't need any cheering up. I'm totally fine. Like really. One hundred percent, tip top."

Ruben said and started pouting when she made no movement to unhook her arms. Damn her, and her iron grip.

"Well, mister one hundred percent tip-top –" She started, beginning to pull him towards the dance floor. "Let's dance a little, shall we?"

The fast beat of the previous song began to die down and the tired couples began to slink away from the dance floor. The ones who hadn't participated in the 'dance off' as shouted by Nora, made their way to the center, face donned with shy smiles and awkward handholding.

Ruben realized that Pyrrha was holding his hand tightly but didn't make a move to shrug it off. His dad told him that brushing off a woman would be rude and besides, if Weiss could have fun, so could he. The DJ spun his track and a slow, romantic song came sliding out of the large speakers. The peppy atmosphere had given way to a much slower one, and Ruben felt himself relax a little.

Unfortunately, Pyrrha chose this exact moment to stop and let go of him, placing one hand on his shoulder and the other on his hips. Ruben acted on an impulse, and placed his hands like hers as well. He felt his pulse quicken when she batted her eyelashes flirtatiously, her hips hooking up into a teasing smirk. Swallowing, Ruben had to fight the urge to push her away and run back to his dorm room. Damn, he should have brought crescent rose.

"I hope that you know how to dance?" She asked jokingly. "I wouldn't want to end the night with a swollen foot."

"Puhlease." The boy scoffed in a mock arrogant manner, making her laugh. "They don't call me the dancing fool for nothing."

"Oh, do they?" Pyrrha teased.

"Nope. Not really." He admitted as they began swaying to the song. "Fool, maybe but I was kidding about the dancing part."

They gracefully moved to the slow drone of the music, and he occasionally spun her out before bringing her back in.

"Wow, not bad."

"Heh, this is what happens when you grow up with a hyperactive sister."

"Oh…remind me to thank Yang, then."

Ruben grinned at the praise. Pyrrha noticed this but made no movement to tease him.

"So, are you feeling better now?" She asked curiously.

"A little. Thank you, Pyrrha. Really." He replied honestly and gave her a cute little smile which made her blush. It reminded her of a little puppy that she wanted to wrap up in her arms and take home.

"No need to thank me for it. You just had to realize that Weiss isn't the only fish in the sea."

"Fish?" Ruben responded in bewilderment. "I don't want a fish. I just want a normal girl."

Pyrrha couldn't resist the good natured joke at her own expense.

"Hey, what am I? Chopped liver?"

"N-no, I didn't mean it like that!" Ruben started to babble when he realized what he was implying. "I-I mean, you're really pretty and you smell nice. Your dress looks beautiful too and you always look good. I don't mean that you're not a girl or anything. I bet that many guys–"

She quickly shushed him with a finger to his lips. Her face felt _really_ warm, and she was pretty sure that her skin resembled the color of a tomato. Ruben was really too cute for words.

"Calm down. It was just a joke." Pyrrha removed her finger, and she felt her heart flutter when the boy started to sulk and looked away with a light blush on his face. "It wasn't very funny." He muttered under his breath, his eyes now directed at her neck.

"…I apologize." She responded quietly, not sounding very sorry at all. He huffed and nearly felt his heart jump to his throat when the huntress leaned forward and placed her head on his shoulder. Her perfume smelled really calming, a hint of cinnamon with a dash of something else which made his mind swirl and his heart pound. Ruben bit his lip. It was the same feeling he got when he saw Weiss smiling. Not her usual scowl, but a real genuine smile.

They both remained silent, basking in the peaceful bubble they found themselves in, swaying gently to the soft murmurs of some singer with awfully good vocals.

The warmth of Pyrrha's body and the pleasing smell of her perfume made Ruben feel really good. It actually reminded him of the times he smelt chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven. Her skin felt really soft too, like a cloud. He wondered how she could be so strong and powerful, yet so gentle and caring. Honestly? Pyrrha was the complete opposite of Weiss and it made him kinda happy.

The song soon came to an end, and Ruben felt her lift her head off his shoulder. The small pang of disappointment was not lost on him, however.

Hooking his arms in hers like she did before, he escorted her off the dance floor and back to the punch bowl which was devoid of any students. A glance towards the exit showed him that everyone had already begun to leave, the tiredness of the night beginning to seep into their bones.

Yang was standing at the exit, talking happily to Blake while Sun had long since disappeared from the large hall with his sneakers squeaking. Jaune was talking animatedly to an amused looking Ozpin and an utterly exhausted Ren was being escorted out of the hall by Nora.

Letting go of Pyrrha's arms reluctantly, he took a step back and wrung his hands nervously.

"Thanks for the dance, Pyrrha. It was…nice."

"You're welcome, Ruben." She said laughingly and reached forward to brush away his hair which had somehow reverted back to its normal messiness. Then, Ruben received the last surprise of the night when the huntress leaned forward to plant a kiss on his cheek.

Blushing madly, he began stuttering out some incoherent sentence but was stopped once more when Pyrrha placed a slender finger against his lips.

"It was _my_ pleasure." She purred. Spinning on her heel, the Amazonian huntress winked at the shell-shocked boy and made her way towards the exit. Greeting Jaune with wave, they both left the hall swiftly.

"…What a woman." Ruben said dazedly, and stumbled toward the exit where his team had gathered.

Yang greeted him with a big bear hug and Blake just looked on in amusement at the sibling's antics. The cat Faunus felt her brow rise when she spotted Weiss limping towards her, with a displeased scowl on her face.

"Dare I ask what happened?" Blake asked with eyes glinting.

"Shut it. I'm in no mood for your sass." The heiress snapped as she bent down to rub her swollen feet.

"What's going on? What's up with you, princess?" Yang greeted happily, her blonde hair sweeping through the air in obvious happiness at the success of the dance.

Weiss sighed irately. Pointing at her red feet, she just huffed in annoyance and winced when her poor limbs began throbbing with pain at the sudden movement.

"Huh." Yang deduced with obvious surprise. "To think that Neptune had two left feet. Never pegged him for such a klutz." The girl shrugged carelessly. "Eh, at least the rest of us had a good time."

As Weiss began hurling insults at his sister, Ruben couldn't help but agree with Yang. Pyrrha's face appeared in his mind's eye which made him smile.

"Yeah…" He mumbled under his breath.

"I had a good time."


End file.
